Control pedals are typically provided in a motor vehicle, such as an automobile, which are foot operated by the driver. Separate control pedals are provided for operating vehicle brakes and an engine throttle. When the motor vehicle has a manual transmission, a third control pedal is provided for operating a transmission clutch. A front seat of the motor vehicle is typically mounted on tracks so that the seat is forwardly and rearwardly adjustable along the tracks to a plurality of positions so that the driver can adjust the seat to the most advantageous position for working a steering wheel, the control pedals on other control devices of the motor vehicle.
This adjustment method of moving the front seat along the tracks generally fills the need to accommodate drivers of various size, but it raises several concerns. First, this adjustment method still may not accommodate all drivers due to very wide differences in anatomical dimensions of drivers. Second, the resulting position of the seat may still be uncomfortable for some drivers. Therefore, it is desirable to have an additional or alternate adjustment method for accommodating drivers of various sizes.
Many proposals have been made to selectively adjust the position of the control pedals relative to the steering wheel and the front seat in order to accommodate drivers of various sizes. While each of these adjustable control pedals may adequately adjust the position of the control pedal to accommodate drivers of various sizes, these adjustable control pedals may have a different “feel” depending on their adjusted position. A brake pedal's feel is typically defined by its brake ratio which is the ratio of the force input to the brake booster by the pedal assembly to the force input to the pedal assembly by the operator. Preferably, the brake ratio is substantially constant throughout the forward/rearward adjustment so that the brake pedal maintains its desired feel throughout the range of adjustment. Additionally, these adjustable control pedals may be noisy to operate due to dragging flex cables and the like. Furthermore, many of these adjustable control pedals are not easily customized to meet varying vehicle or floor pan requirements. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved adjustable control pedal assembly which selectively adjusts the position of the pedal to accommodate drivers of various sizes.